Heroes at Hogwart
by purpletigersonthemoon
Summary: Two girls. Two completely different pasts. Hogwarts. Their new home. What happens when you combine them with a missing person, a mysterious potion, a gang of bullies, betrayal and homework on top? An adventure or two, of course! :)))
1. Prologue

_Finally! We are so sorry that this has taken SO long to get up! But finally the first chapter is here (and the whole rest of the story is written out; we're just revising it :D). So we hope you love it, and please REVIEW to tell give us all manners of criticisms! __ Thanx!_

* * *

Shanelle Williams looked down at the boy's face. He was very pale. Jay's freckles stood out, and his lips were badly chapped from the night air. He lay there, still, the full moon shining on his bruised face. His chest did not move. He wasn't breathing.

Shanelle slowly shook her head. It wasn't possible.

His hands were cold when she grabbed them. He was gone.

Shanelle swore. She kicked the wall of the alley and sunk to the ground as her world started to fall apart. Jay Smith was dead. Her best friend existed no more - she was officially alone in the world. As the hot tears streamed down her face, she clutched Jay's hand, and thought back to when she met him for the first time.

He'd run from a boarding school, and had taken shelter in her gang a few months ago. Just as she had taken shelter in it before that, when her older brother, Stephen ran it. When Shanelle was 11, Stephan had left the gang in her charge while he went away, but she'd never seen him again. She'd had to run the gang alone. When Jay came along, it was like someone, somewhere, knew that she needed her brother back. Since they couldn't send the actual thing, they'd sent her Jay, a replacement. A better-than-the-original replacement, in her opinion. What would she do without him? How would she survive? He'd been the closest thing to family she had. Now even he had left her.

When her tears stopped, she knew what she had to do. She searched his body, looking for the cause of his death.

She punched a wall.

He'd been stabbed in the back. His shirt and jacket were soaked with blood. Shanelle let out a scream of anger as she came to terms with the knowledge that Jay had been murdered. And she knew exactly who'd done it.

Shanelle leaned down to kiss Jay's forehead. "I'll be back," she whispered. "This won't go unanswered." She cupped his bruised face in her hand one moment longer and then ran off into the night, looking for a certain someone. Someone who was going to pay.

* * *

"Dead? Jay's dead?"

Shanelle watched her boys faces as they came to grips with this horrible piece of news. She sighed, and tucked a strand of blue-streaked hair behind her ear. "Boys, he was killed. Stabbed in the back. They left him there, and ran." She saw fists clench. She saw the anger in their eyes. Jay had been loved by all, ever since he arrived in the gang a few months back. He was kind, always there to listen, and a wicked fighter. Plus, he had a wand. Shanelle had one too, and Jay had taught her quite a few tricks. But besides the two, no else had one.

Matt stepped forward. "What are we going to do now, Nel?"

Shanelle stared boldly at her second-in-command. "We fight. We avenge Jay. We _destroy_ them. How does that sound?"

The gang, with looks of grim determination, solemnly nodded. Even without Jay's magic, they could still whoop the others.

The other gang.

_Jerrod's_ gang.

* * *

"So, you think it was Jerrod?" Matt was at Shanelle's side, waiting for the enemy to turn the corner. She didn't respond. "You do. Are you gonna kill him?"

Shanelle glared at him. "I'll do what I have to do, Matt."

Matt wrung his hands nervously. "Nel, if you kill Jerrod, you'll be just like him! We're not murderers, remember?"

Something inside Shanelle snapped. "Whose side are you on? I will never be like him! They _killed_ Jay! On purpose - and for no reason. They killed him - as in _murdered_ him - as in took him away from us forever! What do you want me to do? Sit here and say, 'Oh, that's alright. We forgive you, even though you have no regret, and you'd do it again if given the chance...' They killed him, Matt. They killed Jay."

Matt fell silent as Shanelle's tears threatened to fall. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Alright then. Do what you need to. Just think about Jay for me - would he really want you to kill Jerrod?" He gave her hand one more squeeze, and said, "Here they come."

"Where's Jerrod?" Shanelle had stepped forward with Matt, as the leaders of their gang, but only Jason, Jerrod's 2nd-in-command, stood across from them.

He smiled. "Not here."

Shanelle raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

He smiled even more. "He said to tell you that he was getting a new knife. Some filthy fag bloodied up his last one." Shanelle lunged for him, but Matt grabbed her, and held her back. She fought him, but he held her even more firmly until she stopped.

"Awww," Jason started. "Is someone sad?" He traced a tear down his cheek and laughed, as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Matt couldn't hold her down after that. Shanelle was on top of Jason, pummeling the living daylights out of him, before Matt could blink.

It was a mess after that. Fists were flying everywhere. Shanelle's gang was easily winning. Right as she had them ready to surrender though, she heard a chuckle. She turned to find Jerrod with his knife to Matt's neck, ready to slit it.

"Jerrod? What the bloody hell do you think you're doing!"

Jerrod laughed again. "Oh, Nellie dear. I don't know what you're talking about." Shanelle clenched her fists at the name and walked towards him.

"No-no. Not one more step! Or it'll be you who sends him to his grave." Matt winced as Jerrod dug the knife harder into his neck.

"Jerrod, you wouldn't!" he squeaked.

Jerrod ignored him and smiled at Shanelle again. "So, you have a pleasant evening last night?"

Shanelle bit her tongue and tried not to fall for the bait. "Give him here."

Jerrod smirked. "Not likely. He's mine now." Matt paled but caught Shanelle's eye. He nodded.

Shanelle yelled, "Expelliarmus!" as Matt elbowed Jerrod in the stomach. Jerrod lost his knife and was clutching his stomach when Shanelle tackled him. She sat on him, glaring him down.

"You killed him. You killed Jay."

He spat at her.

"You damn murderer!" She raised her wand.

"Shanelle."

She looked up at Matt. "Remember Jay." He backed away. That just made her angrier. She pointed her wand at Jerrod. She thought the words in her head. She saw him dying. For Jay, she thought.

"STOP!" Big hands grabbed Shanelle around the middle and lifted her off of Jerrod. Jerrod lept up and smirked at Shanelle. She swung her fist at the man, but he caught it with his hand.

"I said _stop._" He looked to be in his 40s, and he wore black robes, with some kind of insignia on the front. He held a wand in his hand, and Shanelle got the feeling that he knew how to use it. "This ends now."

Shanelle glared at him. Who did he think he was? Some outsider was interfering with her, when she was just about to avenge Jay.

"Who the bloody hell are _you_?"

The man sighed. "Someone who knows how to fight with a wand much better than you. _And_ you!" He glared at Jerrod, who was trying to slink off. "Now, I'll explain everything once we get back to Hogwarts, but we need to go now, otherwise I'll be late for my meeting."

Shanelle raised her eyebrows. "Hogwarts?" Jay had mentioned Hogwarts once or twice, saying he'd learned some magic there, but quit. It was the the boarding school he had run from.

"Yes, Hogwarts. Now are you coming nicely, or do I have to put you out?"

Shanelle thought about it for a moment. "First let me deal with him." She pointed at Jerrod.

The man shook his head. "He's coming with me. And so's that one. " He nodded towards Matt. Shanelle swore. He was breaking up her gang.

She looked over to her boys. They gazed back at her. They looked pretty bad. They had won, but they were definitely tired.

"Nel, just-just go. We… without Jay, or Stephan, for that matter, it just isn't the same. It's not real. It's stupid." One of the older boys, Dale, had spoken. "I'm outta here." The rest of them followed.

Shanelle nearly cried. Since last night, her world had been turned upside down and shaken, and it was still shaking. She turned to the man.

"Fine!" She spat. "Have it your way! Let's go."

* * *

Haley Gerald sat on the edge of her four poster bed and stared across the dormitory. Separating her from the opposite wall were three other beds, identical to her own, a large armoire, and a pile of suitcases stacked neatly on the floor. The top suitcase had been left open, revealing the pale blue dress inside, with a silver logo on the shoulder that read "Beauxbatons, France's Finest Academy of Witchcraft."

But Haley wasn't looking around the room. Her gaze was fixed on a poster which hung from the opposite wall. It was a smallish sized piece of parchment - just slightly bigger than the pages of the textbooks which were piled on her bed - with a magical photo printed on it, portraying the face of a pretty teenage girl who was smiling and laughing. The girl resembled Haley quite strongly, the most notable difference being that the girl on the poster looked a few years older. She had dark brown, almost black hair, which hung in curls down to her elbows, tan skin, and brown eyes. She, like Haley, wore the pastel blue Beauxbatons uniform.

Under the photo was the headline "Missing! Jacqueline Gerald, 17 years old, student of Beauxbatons. Last seen March 7th."

Today was August 25th. Haley rose and crossed to the poster. She stared at it for a moment, tracing the outline of her older sister's smiling face. How ironic that they should show a picture of her _laughing_ on a missing poster.

"Haley."

Haley turned to see Ms. Beauclerc in the doorway.

"Your parents have arrived," she said in French. She crossed the room and took Haley's cold hands in her own warm ones, gazing sadly into her eyes. "You know, you don't have to leave us."

Haley shook her head. "I can't be happy here," she replied in the same language.

"But will going somewhere else make you happier? Somewhere you have no friends, no one to comfort you, to share in your sorrow?" Ms. Beauclerc retorted.

"Somewhere no one knows about it?" Haley sighed. "Yes."

"Haley. Just know that you are in all of our prayers, and that we share in your hope that-"

"I don't have any hope," Haley said, in the same monotone that she had struggled to maintain ever since Jac had disappeared. "Jac is gone. She's never coming back. So the best thing for me is to leave it all behind."

She turned abruptly so that Ms. Beauclerc wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes, pulled her hands away from Ms. Beauclerc's grasp, and walked over to her suitcase. She closed in and fastened the buckles.

"I'll be downstairs," Ms. Beauclerc said softly.

Haley took her uniform hat and placed it on her head, then she picked up her suitcase and left the room without looking back. She made her way down the elegant spiral staircase, past ancient portraits and marble statues of famous witches. Descending the last step, she passed under the archway and entered the entry hall. The other students in the hall gave her a wide berth, and she caught several sympathetic looks and snatches of whispered conversation; "Jacqueline Gerald...Last march... Say she was kidnapped." First term had only begun five days ago, and already, Haley knew she couldn't handle another week of this, let alone an entire year.

She reached the end of the hall and turned into the small office on the right. A shiny plaque on the door read "Admissions." Inside, a tall, thin, fair skinned woman wearing a miniskirt, high heels, and cropped coat, and a pale man in a bowler's hat stood before a tall desk. The woman was filling out a paper that the secretary behind the desk handed to her.

The woman shot Haley a look, her beautiful features twisted into a scowl, but said nothing. She scrawled her name at the bottom of the page with a flourish, flung the paper back at the secretary, and turned on her heel, causing her expensive, designer coat to whip out behind her. "Come along, I'll be late," she snapped, and marched out of the office with an elegant stride that looked like it belonged on a runway. Of course, it did.

Haley's mother was a French model. The man, Haley's stepfather, was also French, but considerably less attractive. It had always baffled Haley as to why her mother married him. He had no particularly great characteristics, unless you considered his extreme meekness to be a winning character trait.

Haley and Jacqueline had gotten their dark complexions from their father, Rafael Diaz, a Cuban government official. They had been born to their unmarried parents when their mother was in Cuba with a modeling contract, but the couple had broken up eight months before Haley was born. Marie hadn't even known she was pregnant at the time, and Rafael never knew that Haley existed.

The trio stepped through Beauxbatons' large front doors and out into the cold and rainy outdoors. Marie snapped open an umbrella she carried as they crossed the front lawn. Then, glancing to her side, she grabbed Haley's arm and drew her in under the umbrella as well, wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulder. They crossed to the runway in front of the school, where several carriages and their teams of horses were parked. On closer examination, the horses were not horses at all, but winged creatures - pegasi.

They climbed into one of the carriages and sat in silence as the team prepared to take off. With a jolt, the carriage was jerked off the ground and flung into the air. Out the small window, Haley could see that Beauxbatons was already 50 yards below them, the school grounds, and then the whole island, spreading out before her like a map.

"I suppose you have some explanation for this?" Her mother said suddenly.

Haley sighed and sank deeper into her seat.

"I understand your distress, but you must understand that this is incredibly inconvenient for met," she went on. "I have a huge show coming up, and this is not only taking away from my limited time, but increasing the stress in my life. In addition, since you have refused to remain at Beauxbatons, I've had to pay late fees for your admission to Hogwarts. And suppose they don't accept you! You know I can't homeschool you. What will I do with you?"

* * *

When the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, Shanelle gulped. Her fate lay with this hat that was... talking?

"Yes... hmmm... got brains, yes... but quite a bit of guts... very loyal, oh but what a mean side... I think it'll be... Slytherin!"

Headmaster Neville Longbottom, the man who'd brought her to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, took the hat from her head. Shanelle immediately returned her cabbie hat to its rightful place.

"Well, well, a Slytherin. I should've guessed. It was either that or Gryffindor, with all that bravery." Shanelle assumed he was talking about the fight he'd seen earlier, and she almost laughed. She'd just been mad then. Not brave. But it was true. Unless you were a close friend, Shanelle usually came off as quite rude, and mean.

"Now, school starts in two days, and the Feast is tomorrow night. You'll have time to explore a bit before classes start. Oh, by the way. I just want you to know that there is no using harmful spells here. That means no hurting, and definitely no killing. Understand?" Shanelle looked at the ground as she slowly nodded yes. They both knew that she was lying.

* * *

Shanelle closed the door to her room behind her and stormed down the stairs to the Slytherin common room. She was fuming, as the three girls she had to share a dormitory with were absolutely horrid. They treated her like scum, like she was sewer garbage. The meanest of them all was Kiera Bennett. She acted like she was _so_ much better than Shanelle.

Shanelle had had enough of them for one night. When she reached the common room, only one other person was there. A boy that looked a couple years older than herself sat on one of the couches, looking through a magazine. He had shaggy white blonde hair, and when he looked up, she saw he had twinkling blue eyes. He had a very striking appearance.

She sat down across from him, feeling a little awkward until the boy said, "So, how do you like Keira?"

Shanelle made a face at him. "Not funny. You have no idea how awful she is."

The boy laughed. "Actually I do. The girl's been crushing on me for years. She's asked me out probably 500 times. She's a handful, that's for sure. I'm Scorpius by the way. Scorpius Malfoy." He stuck out his hand and Shanelle studied it for a moment. She decided that she liked him. She shook his hand.

"I'm Shanelle Williams."

He smiled at her and said, "Shanelle's too flowery. How about Nellie?"

She shook her head hard. "If Shanelle isn't good enough, call me Nel."

Scorpius smiled again. "There we go. That's better."

Shanelle laughed. This guy was interesting. "So, does this place have sports of any kind?"

Scorpius looked at her a little strangely. "Um, quidditch."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

He laughed. "You don't know what that is?"

She glared. "So?"

Scorpius grinned and started explaining how Quidditch worked. When Keira walked in a little while later, Shanelle and Scorpius were sitting side by side, a piece of paper on their laps, and Scorpius was avidly drawing a quidditch game. Keira stared at them for a moment, and then stormed over to the couch.

"What are you doing talking with this _scum_, Scorpius? I thought we had something going!"

Scorpius turned to her and tried to smile kindly at her. "Keira! You and me will never work. Not even if you were the last person on this earth."

Keira looked so insulted that Shanelle couldn't help but add, "I mean, seriously. I think he'd even date 'this scum' before he'd actually go out with you."

Kiera screamed and ran faster than Shanelle could believe out of the room. Scorpius and Shanelle burst out laughing.

After a couple minutes of hard laughing, Shanelle said, "My stomach hurts." Scorpius groaned. "Let's go before she comes back." Shanelle nodded and they left the Slytherin house.

* * *

Nervously, Haley fingered the small envelope in her hand. She stood on the steps of Hogwarts castle, dressed in a coat and scarf, her suitcase on the ground next to her. The Hogwarts Express had already left London Station by the time she arrived there with her parents, so they had put her on a flying taxi, not trusting her to apparate, or even use the floo network, alone. The taxi had flown her over Hogsmeade and right up to the steps of Hogwarts before it dropped her off.

Now, Haley stood alone on the front steps of the school, her admissions form clutched in her hand, and all her possessions in the case beside her. She couldn't be afraid - this was a new place, where no one knew her. Where there weren't rumors, where she wasn't the gossip of the school. Here, she could be anyone she wanted to be. She could be _happy_ again. Resolutely, she squared her shoulders and walked inside.

She entered a long corridor with numerous doors coming off of it. She could hear people talking, but there was no one to be seen. Then, a young woman stepped out from a room to the right. She looked surprised to see Haley.

"Oh," she said, glancing at Haley's suitcase with the Beauxbatons tag on it, "You must be one of the transfers," She smiled and held out her hand. Haley put down her suitcase, and shook it. "I'm Professor Kenderson. It's nice to meet you." She had blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin, and a strange accent that hinted that she wasn't British.

"I'm Haley Gerald," Haley replied, smiling.

Kenderson took her wand out of the pocket of her loose jeans and held the tip up to her cheek. "Filch? Could we get you down here in the entry hall for some luggage?" She said into it. A moment later, an old man appeared from one of the adjoining corridors. He had wild, white hair and an unshaven face, a stooped back, and skin so wrinkled it was almost impossible to see his eyes. Without a word he took Haley's suitcase and left.

"Come with me," said Professor Kenderson, and led the way down the corridor and up several flights of stairs. Finally, she delivered Haley to a large, round office decorated with countless globes, maps, and bookcases. Behind a desk sat a middle aged man. He looked up when they came in.

"Ah, a transfer," he said with a smile. "What is your name, miss?"

"Haley Gerald," Haley replied.

"I'm Professor Longbottom, the headmaster. Pleasure to meet you. Now, I'm afraid that some extremely important business has called me to cut short the introduction I had planned for our transfer students, but I have still salvaged the time to have you sorted privately, rather than with all the first years. Come sit down, dear." He gestured to a stool in front of the desk.

Haley sat. The headmaster turned around and took a dilapidated witch's hat from the shelf behind him. Then, leaning over his desk, he placed it on Haley's head.

"Hmmmm..." Haley jumped when she heard the hat speak. The professor chuckled to himself.

"It gets the newbies every time," He smiled.

"This is complicated," the hat said again, "She's powerful enough, could be a Slytherin... and there's quite a bit of courage, though it doesn't show on the outside. She could make a fine Gryffindor. Lots of kindness, Hufflepuff would be delighted to have her. But most of all, there's more than enough wisdom... that's it, RAVENCLAW!" The hat bellowed the last word.

Professor Longbottom smiled and removed the hat from Haley's head, replacing it on the shelf. "You'll make for a fine Ravenclaw - they'll be happy to have you. Now, Professor Kenderson will show you to your dormitory, and then you'll have time to unpack before the feast tonight. I hope you find Hogwarts to your liking!"

With that, Haley followed Kenderson out of the office, down spiral staircases, through a maze of corridors and over changing stairs, through a password locked door, and into her new life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

_AHHHHHH! Hope you enjoyed it! Again, PLEASE LET US KNOW! Love you all! - Rose & Cora_


	2. Secret Passageway

_Y''all, here's the second chapter. Thanks for the review MorbidlyArtistic! That meant so much, and we hope you enjoy this next bit! :) Keep reviewing and share with other HP fans! :) Much love!_

* * *

The clatter of plates, tinkling of glasses, and general din of chattering and laughing students resounded around the Great Hall. Up above, the ceiling gleamed a deep, royal shade of blue, scattered with glimmering pinpricks of light, just like the sky outside. Candles hung, floating above the students' heads, their glow reflecting off the marble floor and walls.

Four long wooden tables standing side by side filled the majority of the room, and each table was crowded with children. Above each table hung a silken banner- a crimson and gold one displaying the picture of a great lion, an emerald and silver one with a serpent on it, a yellow and black one portraying a badger, and a blue and silver one showing a raven.

At the far end of the Hall, and elevated on a platform, was another table running perpendicular to the students' tables. Eight teachers sat at their places, four women and four men. And in the center sat the headmaster, Professor Neville Longbottom. Presently he rose and walked around the professors' table to the podium at the edge of the platform. The Hall grew quiet as he called the students to attention.

"Ahem. I would like to personally welcome each and every one of you to another extraordinary year at Hogwarts!" He announced with gusto. The crowd of students broke out into loud applause, and Professor Longbottom smiled. He continued.

"I must apologize for a few inconveniences that may have delayed our feast - firstly, we had an abnormally large amount of first years to sort, whom I am pleased to welcome-" Again the crowd applauded.

"Secondly," he went on, "We had several transfer students who will be joining us this year. Since they have already completed their first few years of education, they will be joining us as either third, fourth, or fifth years. They still, however, had to be sorted into their appropriate houses.

"Finally, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to all of our teachers who have returned for another year, as well as to our newest addition to the teachers' board. Adam Roe will be joining us as a teacher's aid to Professor Kenderson in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Everyone clapped as a tall, dark haired young man (he looked barely out of school) stood and bowed.

"Now," Professor Longbottom said, "I would like to thank our house elf staff for graciously preparing this delicious meal. And so, without further ado, let the feast begin!" He clapped his hands, and mountains of steaming food magically appeared in heaps on the tables.

Roasts and hams, plates of potatoes, casseroles, baskets of rolls, salads. The students at all four tables began to dig into the feast, laughing and talking, all glad to be back among friends and schoolmates for another year.

The celebration continued for an hour before Professor Longbottom announced: "Supper is finished. You are all dismissed."

There was a scraping of benches as the students rose from their seats and shuffled noisily toward the massive doorways leading to the main corridor. Only one student waited before joining the crowd.

Slouched in the corner of the Slytherin table sat Shanelle. She was still dressed in her street clothes, but she knew that tomorrow she would have to change into a black robe and pointed hat, like everyone else. She sat dejectedly staring at her untouched plate of food, oblivious to the world around her. Finally, she pushed the plate away and stood up.

As quietly as a shadow, she moved to join the masses of students in the corridor. Unnoticed, she slipped down a side hallway.

Shanelle knelt and retrieved her bag from behind a statue where she had left it earlier. As she rifled through the books inside, she noticed the soft padding of feet behind her. Years of experience had taught her to be prepared for anything, so she stood up and turned to see whoever was approaching her. It was Matt.

"Matt!" said Shanelle.

"Shanelle," said was a long and awkward pause.

"Matt, we need to talk." He nodded.

Just then Jerrod turned the corner.

"Matthew! What are you doing?" Matt started shaking. Shanelle took his hand. "Come on Matt. We're going." Jerrod grabbed Matt's shoulder. Shanelle saw the tears in Matt's eyes.

"I can't."

Shanelle gaped at Matt. Jerrod laughed.

"Come on, bro." He turned to leave.

Shanelle felt her face grow red. Furiously, she stomped forward, right in Jerrod's face.

"Listen, Stut," she growled, grabbing his collar for effect, "You are going to regret ever," She yanked him closer; they were almost nose to nose now, and no one was laughing anymore, "EVER, ticking me off! Matt is not your property!" She flung him away and stared him off for a moment. Then she spun on her heel and stormed from the room.

As soon as she was out of sight, Shanelle ran. Silently she sprinted through corridor after corridor, not caring where the twisting passages led her, as long as it was away from Jerrod. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she wouldn't let them escape. Blindly, Shanelle slipped through a door and dropped to the ground. The only thought she could manage to think was how strongly she hated Jerrod Stut.

Shanelle didn't know how long she sat there, hating Jerrod, when the heavy door skidded open with a squeak, the light from the corridor cutting a sharp swath in the darkness of the classroom. Shanelle froze. Her immediate reaction was to defend herself by fighting off whoever it was - but then she remembered that she was no longer on the streets of London.

She wondered if she was doing anything wrong by being here. A student out of their common room, after hours, hiding out in a dark room? Chances were, yes. Shanelle dove toward the wall, where she melted into the shadow just before a figure entered the room.

Whoever it was stepped softly into the classroom, casting a long shadow on the wall. Was it a professor? Or Scorpius? Or even Jerrod?

"Alumno," a girls voice whispered, and a beam of light sprang from her wand.

Shanelle could see the girl now; she was slender and brunette, only slightly shorter than Shanelle herself.

Suddenly the beam of light swung around and caught Shanelle right in the face.

"I can expla-"

"What are you doing here!" The girl hissed, cutting Shanelle off. She had a strong French accent.

"Relaxing," Shanelle replied snarkily, "Now can you point that thing somewhere else?" The light was redirected a her feet. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I left something in here. When they were giving me my tour."

"And it was so important that you just couldn't wait till the bloody morning to come get it?"

"And why is it so important for you to 'relax' in here?"

"Cuz I felt like it!" Shanelle snapped. "Now, if you'll be kind enough to assure me that you won't report this little meeting, we can all just be on our merry way."

"Why? Were you doing something wrong in here?"

"No. I just - wait." They could both hear the set of echoing footsteps outside the classroom. It sounded like they were only in the next corridor. "Turn the light off!" Shanelle hissed, lunging forward and snatching at the girl's wand. The girl jumped back and shoved Shanelle away. Both of them stumbled into the table that neither had seen in the darkness. With a thud, it overturned, and the sound of breaking glass rang out in the silence. They froze.

"What was that?" Came a voice from the corridor directly outside.

Shanelle cursed, but stayed planted - there was nowhere to go.

An unknown liquid was seeping over the floor, and an acrid stench filled the air.

"Students out of bed?" Another, more nasal voice, suggested.

"On the first night? Not likely," The first voice returned. They sounded like they were right outside the door now.

"Come on!" The girl whispered almost inaudibly, wrapping her fingers around Shanelle's wrist. With nothing better to do, Shanelle followed her. They scurried silently across the room, and the girl pulled open the cabinet door on the other side. They slipped into it and slid the door shut.

Not an instant later, people could be heard entering the classroom. The girls peered out through the crack between the doors.

"Alumno," came a voice, and the room was flooded with light. Two professors stood in the doorway; a tall, thin, stooped woman, and Headmaster Longbottom.

"Professor Penn, you were correct," said Longbottom, surveying the overturned table and broken potion bottles. "It appears that there _have_ been student here after hours."

"It's nearly midnight," Professor Penn replied nasally, "they should all be in their beds."

* * *

Haley squinted between the cabinet doors and out into the classroom. She was squeezed between the tall girl's shoulder, and a shelf piled high with bottles of strange liquids and herbs. They appeared to be in some sort of supply closet, inside the potions classroom.

"It's fresh," Professor Penn informed the headmaster, sniffing the air. "Rimweed never stays potent for long, once the seal is broken. The culprits must be near. In fact..." she turned slowly in a circle, squinting her piercing green eyes and surveying the room, "They could be hiding in this very room." Penn circled the room, and came to a stop before the supply closet. The professor knit her eyebrows.

Holding their breath, both girls inched backwards in the closet. Haley felt the floor growing soft and weak beneath her feet - it must be moldy, she thought. Suddenly the boards gave way, collapsing in on themselves.

Haley gave out a yelp of surprise as she fell through the air. She felt the wind rushing around her, sensed whatever was below flying up to meet her.

_Thud!_

The girls landed in a heap on cold, wet stone.

"Ouch," whispered Haley. The other girl just moaned. Haley rubbed her skinned knee softly. "Are you alright?" She asked..

"Just chipper. Alumno!" The girl held up her glowing wand. The two girls climbed to their feet and turned to see their surrounding. They were in a round, tunnel-like passageway, cobbled with mossy black stone. Water droplets plinked periodically onto the floor. The passage reached in either direction for as far as the eye could see.

"Where _are_ we?"

"Well... everyone knows there are secret passages under Hogwarts," said Haley, "But, they've never been completely mapped. Or mapped at all, for all I know."

They stepped forward, and their feet promptly slid out from under them on the slick mold. With a thud, they landed on their backs on the floor, knocking the breath out of both of them. Before either of them could react, they were blinded by a shockingly bright light.

A second later the light was directed away from their eyes, but green spots still swam in Haley's vision. She could now see that the source of the light was a wand, clutched in the hand of a boy. The boy was tall, with messy red hair and a lot of freckles. Beside him stood another, nearly identical boy, and on his other side was a shorter boy who was slightly skinnier than the identical two. He had brown hair that swept sideways over his forehead, a light complexion, and bright green eyes.

"What the hell are _you_ doing down here?" asked the identical on the side.

Haley ran through a list of possible lies in her head, but then the other girl broke in.

"We're exploring, obviously," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry about him," said the middle identical, rolling his eyes at the other.

The brown haired boy stepped forward and extended his hand to help Haley up. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. He even had the courtesy not to immediately wipe his hand off on his jeans - Haley had gotten slime from the floor all over her fingers. Beside her, the friendlier identical was trying to do the same for the other girl, but she ignored him and climbed up on her own.

Now that they were all standing, Haley could see that the identicals were a few inches taller than the girl. The other boy was about her height, which was a few inches taller than Haley.

"So, who are you? I've never seen you before," asked the friendlier identical. Haley noticed a slight difference between the two now - this one had light brown eyes, whereas the other had blue ones. "I'm Dominic Weasley, by the way, and this is my cousin, Riley. We're Gryffindors."

"And I'm Deavon Finnigan," said the brown haired boy. He had a slight Irish accent. "I'm Ravenclaw."

"Shanelle Williams. Slytherin." The tall girl announced boredly.

"I'm Haley Gerald," said Haley, "I'm Ravenclaw, too." She thought she saw Deavon smile at her.

"Are you new here?" Asked Dominic.

"I transferred from Beauxbatons," Haley replied.

Everyone looked at Shanelle.

"Same." She muttered. Haley had never seen Shanelle before in her life, which made her question the truth of that statement. She made a mental note to ask her about it later, privately.

"Do you hear that?" Riley asked suddenly. Everyone grew silent and listened. Sure enough, the rhythmic falling of human feet was audible somewhere along the tunnel.

"Professors!" Shanelle hissed in panic.

"It's alright," Dominic assured her, "We know a passage back into the school." He took the lead, and everyone else followed down the wide, twisting passage. Deavon fell into step with Haley at the back of the group.

"So," he said casually, "What _were_ you doing down here?"

"Well..." Haley didn't know what she should tell Deavon. "We fell through the floor."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yeah," Haley smiled at his disbelief, "The floor's a bit soft in the back of the potions room supply closet."

Deavon laughed. He had a nice laugh, a friendly laugh. It encouraged her.

"Really," Haley went on, "Next time you're in potions class you should look in the closet, behind the bottles. There's probably a gaping hole."

"I'll be sure to do that," he said, smiling.

"So why were _you_ here?" Haley inquired, before he could ask what she was doing in the potions closet.

"Well... we like exploring." Deavon shrugged.

Haley smirked. "Were you making trouble?" She guessed.

Deavon smiled. "Maybe..." he said evasively.

Behind them, the professor's footsteps echoed closer.

"They're gaining on us," Riley muttered.

"Maybe we need to hide somewhere until they pass us by," Shanelle suggested.

"That's the problem," said Dominic, "There _is_ nowhere to hide."

Haley glanced about her frantically. So far, she thought she had been doing pretty well making friends on her first night. She didn't want to ruin it by getting into trouble with the professors. Dominic was right, though. There weren't any other passages splitting off from this one for a long stretch. Haley searched the passage for any difference in the uniform, round tunnel. She found one.

"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing with her lighted wand at the ceiling of the passage a few yards up. Jagged rocks stuck out from the smooth stone wall of the tunnel, and the top one was flat on top, forming a sort of shelf that looked big enough for all of them to sit on.

Riley, a sly grin on his face, glanced at his cousin. "Should we try it?"

"It's not like we have anything better to do, right?"

The group ran over to the rocky area. Without hesitation, Shanelle climbed onto the first outcropping. She stretched her arms out and gripped the ledge with her fingers. Dominic and Riley cupped their hands under her - she stuck her feet into them and they boosted her up.

Haley was next. She stood on the cousins' ready hands and hoisted herself up onto the shelf. The cousins boosted Deavon up, then Riley scrambled onto the ledge, and pulled Dominic up behind him. No sooner had Dominic's feet swung onto the shelf, than a light appeared around the corner of the passage. The five students squatted on the rock with their backs to the tunnel wall, and held their breath.

A figure rounded the corner. It was a tall woman with long, platinum hair. At first Haley thought it was Professor Kenderson, until she saw the pale face. The woman was very beautiful, but she wore an odd assortment of brightly colored clothing, and had a serious expression on her face. She walked hurriedly and with purpose, passing the students without a second glance, and disappearing down the tunnel. It was only once her footsteps grew distant and faint that Haley let her breath out again.

She noticed how very crowded they were on the ledge - one more person and they wouldn't have fit. As it was, Haley was crammed tightly between Shanelle and Deavon. His arm was pressed against her side, and she could feel the warmth coming off his body.

"Professor Lovegood," said Dominic, once the footsteps had become inaudible.

"What's she doing down here?" Riley wondered.

"Looking for those two, probably," said Deavon, gesturing to the girls.

"You guys are fun," Dominic said with a grin, "We should get stuck in dungeons with you more often."

"Dungeons?" Shanelle asked skeptically.

"Come on, we'll show you," Dominic replied.

They all climbed down from the rock and took off up the passage. After only another 60 feet or so, the tunnel opened up into an immense, round stone room. Shining her wand, Haley could barely see the other side. They were standing on a small step, and more steps descended like a coliseum. Two steps down, green liquid lapped at the stone. Murky water stretched across the entire room, and brownish-blackish glop splashed in from a few rusted, grated drains on the wall to their left. They appeared to be standing in an underground, indoor swamp.

"Look," said Riley, pointing his wand toward the upper part of the wall. Several pairs of rusted, metal shackles were bolted to the stone. It _was_ a dungeon.

Haley was starting to feel like she'd gotten her fill of adventure for the first night. "That's wonderful, but how do we get back into the school?"

"Through there," Dominic directed his wand light toward the opposite wall of the dungeon. There were a set of bars, but they looked rusted and weak. And behind the bars was an unbolted door.

"The Slytherin quarters are the only rooms on the same level as the dungeon. That's a secret door into the common room. We've got to go through it to get to the rest of the school."

"And so we swim?" Shanelle asked, eyeing the massive bog with disgust.

"No," Deavon laughed, "We go around the edge." All around the perimeter of the dungeon, there was a small ledge that rose above the water. It was slimy, and looked only to be about a foot wide, but it wasn't underwater.

"Let's go," said Shanelle. Riley took the lead, and Shanelle followed. Haley went after her, with Deavon behind, and Dominic in back. Slowly they inched along the precipice, sliding their feet along the slippery surface, gripping the clammy stone for balance. No one spoke as they made their way around the room, but the wind that whistled through the dungeon filled in for the silence.

Haley took each step carefully, her back pressed against the wall for balance, every muscle tensed. The clumpy, greenish lake before her appeared to be deep, and every so often, the liquid would splash up, as if something in the water had moved.

Finally, they reached the other side. Balancing on the ledge, Riley grabbed the metal bars and pulled. They swung open on a squealing hinge.

"Alohomora," he whispered, pointing his wand at the rusty door latch, and it fell open. He pushed the door open silently, and, kicking the muck off his shoes, stepped into the room beyond. The others followed.

Haley stepped onto thick green carpet. Glancing up, she saw that the walls were papered with green and gold designs. A large tapestry portraying a snake hung from one wall. Soft light flickered around the room from the mounted torches, casting an emerald glow off the low ceiling. So this was the Slytherin common room.

Haley turned back to the others, and stopped suddenly. Her gaze caught on Deavon's face. In the dark of the tunnels, his features had been masked by shadow. Here, in full light, he was gorgeous. His hair swept over his forehead in soft waves. Dark eyebrows framed his bright green eyes; his skin was light and clear, sprinkled with freckles. He had a strong profile, with a straight, perfect nose, and a crooked half smile. Haley looked away quickly.

* * *

As Shanelle stepped out of the dungeon, she took in the sight of her common room for the second time in her life. It was comfortable - perhaps a little showy, and the snakes would definitely take a little getting used to, but she liked it. It was better than sleeping on the streets, that much was obvious.

Dominic was just closing the secret door behind her when she heard the noise.

_Thud._ A muffled banging and scraping seemed to be coming from across the room. Shanelle strode across the carpet and looked around. She leaned forward and peeked behind the old sofa to see what it was.

There, crammed between the couch and the wall, lay Scorpius, bound and gagged. Immediately, Shanell felt her protective instinct shoot up. After what had happened to Jay, she would never take anything like this lightly again. Kneeling, Shanelle pulled the gag from his mouth. "Scorpius! Who did this to you?!" she exclaimed, unknotting his hands.

"The-" Scorpius coughed and cleared his throat. "Them!"

Shanelle wheeled around to find the other three boys in the room staring at the carpet.

"What?!" She cried, "Why did you do this?" Shanelle stared straight at Dominic, feeling as though he had betrayed her. He had been one of the nicest people she had met since she arrived - she had even expected them to become friends. He'd acted as if he'd liked her, wanted to know her more. She had never expected this to come from someone like him.

"It was only a joke," muttered Deavon.

"A joke!" Shanelle yelled, "A cruel joke! You could have actually hurt him!"

"Look, it was a simple prank," Dominic said defensively. "Who cares, anyway?"

"Yeah," added Riley, "He's only a Slytherin."

"I'm a Slytherin!" Shanelle spat.

In the silence that followed, everyone could hear the echoing footsteps outside the corridor.

"The professors," whispered Haley, "Shanelle - please - hide us here! I saved you in the potions classroom."

"Fine," said Shanelle, "Haley, we'll go up to the girls' dormitory. You-" she gestured dismissively at the males, "go to the boys'."

"No," said Scorpius, "I won't allow it. I'm not hiding them_. _I'll call a professor."

Shanelle sighed, pulling Scorpius into a corner. "Listen, we'll all get into trouble if someone is found out of bed. It's my first day here, and they already think I'm a problem child. I don't want that!"

"Did you see what they did to me?"

"I know what they did, Scorpius. That was so horrid of them, but please! For me?"

"Fine," Scorpius muttered tightly, "for you. But just this once," he added, glaring toward the other boys.

"Thanks, Scorp," Shanelle gave him a smile, and turned away before he could change his mind.

"Let's go," she ordered. Hastily the other students scrambled up the staircase and down the hall. Shanelle ushered Haley into the 4th year girls' dormitory, and they tiptoed across the floor, careful not to wake the sleeping students.

"Here," Shanelle whispered, lifting the bed-skirt on her four poster. "You can hide here, and go back to your own dorm when the teachers leave."

"Shanelle," Haley said, just before climbing under the bed, "Thanks."

"You did the same for me," Shanelle replied. She laid back on her bed, letting herself sink into the soft mattress, and closing her eyes. It had been a long first day.

* * *

_Okay, seriously guys. If you are reading this. Please review. It took us so long to write this, and it would just MAKE OUR DAY if you left us a little something. Thank you! - Rose & Cora_


	3. First Day Classes

_Okay, here's the next chapter! :) Hope you enjoy! Thank you to Morbidly Artistic, again for the reviews. They are appreciated SO much. :) Peace!_

* * *

Haley woke the next morning with a stiff neck and bruised knees. There had been so much adrenaline pumping through her veins last night that falling through the potions room floor and onto hard stone hadn't hurt much at the time. Now, she was definitely feeling the after effects.

Haley pulled open the blue and silver curtain to her four poster and climbed out of bed. She peeled off the dirty jeans she had slept in, and changed into clean ones, along with a blue hooded sweatshirt, and her favorite, beat up converse. Over this, she pulled on her robes, sticking her wand in her pocket.

Most of her roommates were still snoring in their beds when someone rapped loudly on the door. It opened, and an older girl stepped in, carrying a bundle of papers. She had straight, dark red hair that reached to her elbows, thick bangs, and beautiful blue eyes. She wore the blue tie of Ravenclaw over her robes, and had a prefect's badge pinned on her sweater.

"Alright, girls, up and at 'em!" She cried energetically. She walked around the room, flinging open bed curtains to reveal groaning, messy haired girls.

"Summer's over! I won't be here to wake you up all year, so you'd better get used to doing it on your own!" She took the stack of envelopes from under her arm, read the name on the top one, and tossed it to a barely awake blonde girl. She threw the next one to Haley, and continued to pass out the rest.

Haley caught it, and ripped it open, pulling out the paper inside. It was a schedule of classes. She read quickly over the titles, relieved to see that many were similar to those at Beauxbatons.

**Schedules **

Haley Gerald

4th year

Ravenclaw

Daily schedule for all assigned courses are as below. Please note the locations or classroom numbers for each class. If in need of directions, refer to your professors.

Arrive on time, with all required texts and materials for each class, as listed in your admissions letter. Thank you!

Core Classes: Charms (11), Potions(6), Transfiguration(5), Herbology(Greenhouse), Defense Against the Dark Arts (9)

Supplemental Courses: Care of Magical Creatures(Grounds), Divination (10)

Electives: Quidditch (field)

*Note: Quidditch tryouts for the Ravenclaw team are held from 4-5pm, on Monday of the first week of term.

**Period: 8-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 12-1 1-2 2-3 **

**Monday** _Charms Potions Div. Trans. Lunch Herbology DADA_

**Tuesday ** _Charms Potions COMC Trans. Lunch Herbology DADA_

**Wednesday** _Charms Potions Div. Trans. Lunch Herbology DADA_

**Thursday** _Charms Potions COMC Trans. Lunch Herbology DADA_

**Friday** _Charms Potions Div. Trans. Lunch Herbology DADA _

"Breakfast is at seven," the red haired girl continued, pulling back her sleeve to glance at her wristwatch, "Which is in ten minutes. Then, you'll have time to come back and get your books before classes." Before leaving, she crossed over to Haley.

"You're an early riser, I see," she said with a smile, "At least we have one!"

"Not usually," Haley returned the smile.

"I'm Weasley, by the way. Rose Weasley. I'm a fifth year."

"I'm Haley Gerald - one of the transfers."

"It's nice to meet you," Rose smiled again, then turned and left the room. She could be heard down the hall, rousting the 3rd year girls.

Haley decided to head to the Great Hall, to be early for breakfast. She was just walking out the door when another girl spoke up.

"You're the new girl." She said. She had dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm Haley. Haley Gerald."

"Oh. I'm Bethany." She smiled, "Pleasure."

The other four girls - two brunettes, one blonde, and one with pale red hair- introduced themselves as Ada, Lydia, Monet, and Tacy.

"Nice to meet you," Haley said. They were still getting dressed, so she went downstairs. Haley hurried through the common room and into the corridor. She made her way down the changing stairs without mishap, and arrived in the Great Hall five minutes early.

* * *

Shanelle was on her way to breakfast when she heard her name being shouted.

"Shanelle, wait up!" It was Dominic.

Shanelle glared at him and said, "What do you want?" He winced at the tone of her voice but he took her hand.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what we did to Scorpius. Really sorry. It seemed funny at the time, but now I realize that it was quite mean. I was up all last night worrying about it and I feel so bad. Please, forgive me?" Shanelle raised her eyebrows. This kid could talk, that's for sure.

"So, you want me to forgive and forget, right? Dominic, what you did to Scorpius was very serious. I want to know how tying up and gagging a fellow student is fun. He would've been there till morning if I hadn't seen him. Till morning! And for no reason? Oh, sorry, I forgot. Because it was fun?" She pulled her hand away. Dominic looked shamefully at the ground.

"Shanelle, I've been up all night thinking those exact thoughts. I am sorry." Shanelle shook her head in disgust.

"You're sorry. How would you like to be left lying on the floor, tied to a chair, and gagged, overnight? Look, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. You have some major work to do for Scorpius." She turned away but Dominic grabbed her hand again to stop her.

"Shanelle, I definitely plan on going to Scorpius. But the reason I was apologizing to you, is, well, I like you. As soon as I first met you, I did. I want to be friends. So please, give me another chance. Please?" Shanelle thought for a minute. There were so many things she could've contradicted in what he'd just said. But, he was apologizing. And he did look as if he hadn't gotten much sleep. She sighed.

"Fine. I'll give you one chance. But if you abuse it any way, you'll be more than just sorry. Now, I want to see you kissing ass to Scorpius, you hear?"

Dominic gave her a grin of relief.

"Definitely! Thanks, Shanelle. I won't let you down." He gave her one last show of teeth and ran off. Shanelle smiled to herself. With a little work, he might be worth keeping.

* * *

As she reached the Ravenclaw table, Haley slowed her pace, unsure of what to do. Lots of students were clustered in groups, making conversation, but Haley didn't see anyone she recognized. She stood for a moment, hesitantly, before she heard someone call her name.

"Haley." Haley turned to see Deavon waving at her from a little ways down the table. He motioned for her to come over. Blushing, she smoothed her robes and put on a smile before approaching him.

"Hey," he said, flashing a warm smile full of straight, white teeth. "Come eat with us." He was sandwiched between a pretty brunette girl and a tall blonde boy. The only space on the bench was between the blonde boy and the black haired girl next to him.

Haley sat down slowly.

"This is Joshua," he gesturing to the blonde boy, "And this is my girlfriend, Selene," Deavon continued.

Haley blinked. Deavon had a girlfriend? Of course he did. He was gorgeous. And funny. And nice. What had made her think he was available?

"Selene, this is Haley," Deavon said, "She's a transfer from Beauxbatons."

Selene smiled - hers was almost better than Deavon's - and wrapped an arm around Deavon's waist. "Wee wee," she said in a bad impersonation of French, then giggled. Her laugh sounded like music. Several other students who appeared to be friends of the couple also burst out laughing at the joke, and Haley felt her cheeks flush. She managed a very fake sounding chuckle.

"I'm just kidding," Selene said in her light, musical voice. She leaned across Deavon's lap, reached her arm out, and squeezed Haley's hand. Her fingers were soft and manicured. "I'm sure we'll be _best_ friends," she winked a pale blue eye.

Just then, piles of food appeared on the table. Relieved for a distraction, Haley filled her plate and began eating, trying to look as occupied as possible as the others talked and laughed. Deavon occasionally asked her a question, which she would answer as shortly as possible, and hurry on through her meal. As the others chatted, and Haley finished her oatmeal, Selene leaned forward and gave a Deavon a quick kiss on the lips. Haley stopped eating and stared down at her plate, feeling her face grow hot. Quietly she pushed her plate away, got up, and left.

She hurried upstairs to collect her books, refusing to think about what she'd seen, then back down, through a corridor, and into room 11, the Charms room.

She stepped into a cluttered, long and narrow room with a large window at one end. Sunlight streamed in from the window, and onto the gleaming polished wood of the desk in front of it. Several tables were arranged along the room, bordered by tall, crowded, dusty bookshelves. Most the students were already seated at their places - there were both Ravenclaw and Slytherin 4th years. Deavon sat with the blonde boy - Joshua - from breakfast, on the far side of the room, but Selene was nowhere to be seen. She must be a fifth year, as she didn't share a dormitory with Haley.

"Hey." Haley turned.

"Shanelle! I haven't seen you all morning."

The girl shrugged, "I was late for breakfast. How's your morning so far?"

"Awful. Deavon's girlfriend thinks I'm terrible. At least my roommates are nice."

"That's _good_ that she hates you," Shanelle said with a smirk, "If she liked you, then you'd know you weren't any competition. And my roommates are terrible."

"I'm not any competition," Haley mumbled as the girls took their seats.

At that moment, a tiny man - he couldn't be more than four feet - dressed in a suit stood up from behind the desk. He had cropped white hair and a small mustache, and looked very prestigious.

"Welcome, everyone, to Charms class!" He cried with a surprising amount of vigour for someone his age.

"For those of you who don't know, I am Professor Flitwick, and I've taught this class for more generations than I would care to count!" He chuckled at his own joke, and several of the students joined him good naturedly.

"Now," he suddenly transformed into a perfectly serious manner, "Let us begin. We'll be using several different texts in this course, but if you will take out your Standard Book of Spells - grade 4, of course - and open it up to page 6, just past the introduction... there. Now, the first spell we'll learn is called 'Accio.' Can you all say that? Accio!"

The class repeated the word.

"Brilliant! Now, this spell is a summoning spell, one of the most useful spells you'll ever learn. It's used to summon objects - in other words, it makes them fly from wherever they are, right into the caster's hands. Anything can be summoned with this spell, if you've got the appropriate skill level. And it can be used on objects from any distance - though, the further away the object you mean to summon is, the more skill is required to summon it.

"Now, the way you cast this spell is to direct your wand at the object you wish to summon - or, just straight forward if the object isn't visible - then recite the incantation, followed by whatever you want to summon. For example: Accio quill!" Flitwick pointed his wand at a Slytherin girl in the front row, who was scribbling on a piece of parchment under the table. She gave a jump of surprise as the feather flew out of her hand, and into Flitwick's outstretched one.

"Glad to see you're taking notes," he joked, "Now, let's have everyone stand up and do a bit of practicing."

As they all stood up and pushed their benches out of the way, Flitwick cried, "Accio quills!" Everyone's quills flew off the tables and landed in the Professor's open arms. He proceeding to use another charm to distribute them on top of bookshelves throughout the room.

"Now, you can all go ahead and try to summon your quills back," he said. "Go on," he added encouragingly, "I don't expect anyone to get it on their first try."

No one did. A girl from Ravenclaw - Haley recognized her as Lydia - was the first to try, pointing her wand determinedly and practically yelling the words. Her quill merely twitched. Then everyone started reciting the incantation, pointing their wands at various quills scattered across the bookshelves, filling the room with choruses of "Accio!"

Haley pointed her wand at the closest quill and cried, "Accio quill!" To her delight, it gave a slight jump in her direction. She tried again. This time, it did nothing. On her third try, it fluttered down off the shelf and meandered slowly into her hand.

"Nice." Haley turned to see Deavon nodding in approval.

"Thanks," Haley grinned.

"I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet," He said.

"Me neither - that was just luck," Haley admitted.

"Nonsense! There's no such thing as luck in spellcasting."

Haley blushed and looked down. "Thanks."

Meanwhile, Shanelle stood in the corner, her wand directed at a quill a few yards away. "Accio quill, accio quill, accio quill," She chanted boredly. She wrinkled her brow as it refused to obey her. "Accio QUILL!" she growled angrily, "Accio stupid bloody quill!" To her surprise, the quill gave a slight flutter, then lifted itself up and flew into her open palm.

_Yes,_ she congratulated herself with a smug smile.

* * *

"So, where are you headed next?" Shanelle asked, elbowing Haley as they walked out into the corridor after an hour of charms class.

"Potions," Haley replied, "You?"

"Herbology," Shanelle informed her. "What is that, anyway?"

"You'll see. It's fun," Haley said, "Well, I don't want to be late. See you later."

"Bye," Shanelle waved and walked off in the opposite direction.

Haley turned, stuffing her charms book into her cauldron, and walked down the corridor. She turned left down another corridor, and into the classroom where she and Shanelle had met the night before.

It was a dark room, with large, heavy wooden tables, and stools instead of chairs positioned behind them. Thick purple curtains shielded the window from the sunlight. Several rows of shelves lined the back wall of the room, stacked with neat rows of cauldrons, scales, and books. Haley saw Bethany and Monet at a table near the center of the room, and went over to join them.

"So, how's the potions class here?" she asked, setting her cauldron on the table. She took her books out of it and stacked them on the floor, out of the way.

"Dreadful," Bethany said, "Professor Penn is awful, and who likes brewing smelly slime over a sweltering cauldron, anyway?"

"I like it," Monet contradicted, pushing her overgrown red bangs out of her eyes. That was easy to see - at the moment her bright, inquisitive blue eyes were roving curiously over the shelf of brewing equipment.

"Well, I've never had a potions class," Haley admitted, seating herself on the stool next to Monet, "At Beauxbatons, it wasn't required til fifth year."

"Lucky," Bethany groaned, "I wish _I_ were French. Anyway, do you know when the quidditch tryouts are?" she asked, turning to Monet, "I never try out, but I like to watch them every year. I hope we have a better team this year..."

"They're Monday evening," Monet replied, "At 4. But the hour before, they have open broom flying for anyone who's never played before to try it out. It's mandatory for the transfer students," she looked at Haley, "but open to anyone."

At that moment, bright sunlight flooded the room. Someone had pulled aside the curtain over the window. Squinting, Haley saw that it was the tall, stooped Professor who had been with Professor Longbottom last night.

The woman stationed herself at the center of the front of the room and cleared her throat loudly.

"Quiet, everyone!" she said her high, nasal voice. "As you all know, I am Professor Penn, and this is potions class. Potions..." she gazed off at the back of the room, "Is the most _refined_ of the sorceries. It is an _art. _In this class, I strive to help you to learn this, to embrace it, to grow in your knowledge and ability of the craft of potion brewing. There is no greater satisfaction than bottling up a successfully brewed potion..."

Bethany leaned across Monet and whispered in Haley's ear, "She gives this same speech at the beginning of every year - word for word."

"Now," Penn continued, "We will begin today, not by brewing a potion, but by reviewing the basics of each different element - or step - of this art." She conjured up a wavering, transparent black board with her wand, and began to draw shimmering green words across it.

"The first element is the ingredients. This is, arguably, the most important of the elements, as the quality of the ingredients can and will vastly affect the outcome of your potion. At Hogwarts, we require the finest standard of ingredients, second only to medical potions, and we will also work with Professor Longbottom in Herbology to grow some of our own ingredients.

"The second element is fusing - the way you mix the ingredients together. This element is closely intermingled with that of brewing - which is the closely timed precision of alternate heating and cooling, which is vital to a potion. The final element is binding, which, though it sounds like fusing, is not. Binding is the magic used at the end of - or throughout - the brewing period. During binding, the proper incantation will release the special properties of the magical ingredients, turning them from a muggle's soup, into the incredible creation we call a _potion."_

She sucked in a deep breath at the end of her speech. "Now, everyone clear on that? I'll want notes on the four elements to potion brewing at the end of this week, so scribble down anything you can't remember- hurry now!"

There was a scratching of quills as the students copied off of the magical black board. Haley had been making notes all along.

"Alright. In order to properly master each element, we'll practice the steps separately. But, do note that they are often unintelligibly intermingled.

"I have a very basic potion here," she gestured along her desk, where four cauldrons were arranged. "Each one of these cauldrons represents a different stage in the potion, a different element. I'll want you to come up in groups of five, and identify which stage you think each of them is in. Then, each of the four groups will get one of the cauldrons, along with the recipe for this simple potion. You'll have to complete the potion based on whichever step you think it is in right now. If you repeat, or skip a step, the potion will fail. All ready? Let's have the first five."

Deavon, Joshua, and the three other Ravenclaw boys went up to the Professor's desk. They stuck their faces up near the cauldrons and whispered their answers to Professor Penn.

"Homework on the first week!" Bethany whispered, "I told you Penn is awful."

"At least it's easy," Monet shrugged.

"Next group!"

Haley got up, and Monet and Bethany followed. Two boys from Hufflepuff joined them. As she reached the desk, Haley peered into each of the cauldrons. One had several leaves in it. The next contained a thick yellow slime, which occasionally bubbled and belched steam. The third had chopped bits of plant material, swimming in a pale yellowish liquid, and the fourth looked similar to the second, only it was cooled, and had a glittery, shimmering quality to it.

"This one is the ingredients," Haley said, pointing to the one containing dry leaves.

Professor Penn nodded. "That one is the easiest to guess."

"And-"

"Alright, let someone else have a go!" Haley bit her lip, embarrassed.

"I think..." a short, freckled Hufflepuff boy said hesitantly, "That this-" he pointed to the fourth cauldron, "is fusing."

"Wrong." Professor Penn said, "You had a guess?"

"Yes," Haley said quietly. "This is step two, fusing," she continued, pointing to the third cauldron."

"Good," Penn said approvingly. "Anyone have a guess on the brewing one?"

Haley opened her mouth, then shut it again. She didn't want to look like a know-it-all. But, after a moment, no one said anything.

"This is the third element, brewing," she said sheepishly, pointing at the second cauldron. "And that makes this-"

"That one's the last element!" Bethany cut her off. She pointed to the fourth cauldron, the glittering one. "The, the binding!" she said excitedly.

"Being that it's the only one left, you are obviously correct. Very good," said the Professor.

Bethany smiled.

"Now, take this cauldron," Penn said, handing Haley the one containing leaves, "And find an empty table with your group. The rest of you," she addressed the whole class, come up in your groups, and I'll give you a cauldron to work with."

They obeyed. Haley carried the cauldron to the back of the room, her group following. She set it on the table, and they sat in a semicircle around it. Professor Penn came around, handing each group a slip of parchment. Monet took it and set it on the table.

"_Recipe for Wart Cream," _Bethany read, "Eeeeeeeew."

_Recipe for Wart Cream_

_Chop herb leaves finely_

_Mix with 1 tbs newt liver oil and 8 cups water_

_Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for one minute. Boil again. Let sit until cool._

_Perform "Cion" incantation._

"You'll find all the ingredients and materials you need in the cupboard and on the back shelf." Professor Penn informed them, "Your assignment is to complete the potion - successfully, not quickly - beginning on whichever step you think your potion was left off on. Begin whenever you are ready."

"Well, we already know that this is just the ingredients," Monet said, "So we'll have to start from the beginning."

Bethany blew a raspberry. "You guys have fun," she said, kicking her feet up onto another stool and pulling a book out of her bag.

"What's the first step?" asked a Hufflepuff boy.

"Well, before we fuse anything, we have to prepare the ingredients," Haley replied, "This says we have to chop the leaves."

"I'll get the cutting board." The boy returned a moment later with a wooden cutting board and short kitchen knife in his hand. He gave them to Haley.

"You do it," Monet suggested. Haley took the leaves out of cauldron and chopped them into fine slivers, then dumped them back in.

"Come on," Monet said when she was done, taking her hand and pulling her over to the cabinet she had hid in with Shanelle the night before. She opened it and peered through the shelves.

"Here's the newt liver oil," Haley held up a bottle of yellowish oil.

"And here's the water," Monet picked up a jug off the shelf, and they returned to their table. They took measuring cups off the back shelf and poured the ingredients into the cauldron with the chopped leaves.

"I'll boil it," said one of the Hufflepuff boys. He had golden hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. He recited an incantation, and a small flame burst up underneath the cauldron. The mixture grew more yellow as it heated, and by the time it boiled, it looked like banana pudding. The boy said another incantation, and the flame lowered.

Haley glanced at the clock. "It should be good to boil again now," she said.

The boy brought the flame up again, and the potion began to bubble. He said another spell, and the flame died. Within a moment, it had stopped steaming.

"You do the spell," said Monet.

"Alright," Haley consented, "but I don't know it."

"You just point and say the word," Monet explained, "It's easy. We use it to complete all our basic potions."

Haley pointed her wand at the brew and said, "Cion!" There was a burst of black smoke, and Haley's stomach dropped. But, when it cleared, the potion was thick, yellow, and almost as glittery as Professor Penn's.

"Good job!" Monet smiled.

The other groups had already finished, and Professor Penn was making her way around the room, examining the results. The first group huddled dejectedly around a cauldron that simmered black smoke. Deavon's group had succeeded in finishing their potion. The third group had been given the completed potion, and only had to determine that it was already finished.

"Excellent!" said Professor Penn, when she reached Haley's group, "You'll make a fine potion brewer."

* * *

Shanelle strode out of the Herbology greenhouse and across the lawn. Herbology had not been what she had expected - they had learned the names of a few "important" (as Professor Longbottom called them) herbs, then learned how to trim a Sickle bush so as to produce the optimal fruit.

She turned and walked up the knoll, then onto the outdoor breezeway that bordered the castle. She entered one of the main doors, and climbed three flights of stairs, to one of the top rooms.

"Divination," read the sign on the door. She entered. It was a good sized room with a slightly low ceiling. The walls were painted a mellow shade of blue, and decorated with large posters of famous witches' and wizards' quotes. Several small, round glass tables covered in sheer, silky sheets of fabric filled the room. A long bookshelf lined the side of the room. At the front of the room was another glass table, covered in a transparent purple tablecloth. Several trays and baskets sat on it, filled with various objects. And behind the table sat the woman Shanelle had seen in the tunnels underneath the school the night before. Her long, pale blonde hair was pulled back with a red scarf, and she seemed to be studying a book with great interest.

The last few students squeezed into the room behind Shanelle. One of them was Haley.

"Let's sit here," Shanelle suggested, grabbing Haley's hand and pulling her toward one of the few empty tables. A small girl with red hair seated herself next to Haley.

"This is Monet," Haley explained, "She's one of my roommates." Monet smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She was very pretty underneath all the overgrown locks, which covered half of her face.

"I'm Shanelle," Shanelle introduced herself, reminding herself, she was supposed to be friendly.

"Hello, students," The Professor began. Everyone swiveled in their seats to see her. "I'm Professor Lovegood. I'm head of Ravenclaw, and I also teach Divination. For most of you, this is your second year of this class, but for those of you who are new, be assured that you'll catch on quickly.

"Divination is an abstract magical art, used for seeing the future. There are many methods of divination, and we'll cover, at least briefly, most of them in this class. For those of you who wish to continue and deepen your understanding of divination, you may continue this class into the second semester, but most of you will finish by the end of the autumn term."

"Divination is considered rather dangerous, as it can provide incorrect or misleading visions of the future, inciting rash and panicked behavior in the seer. Therefore, I suggest the use of this art for two purposes. One: there are careers available in the subject of divination. If you are interested in such a career, a deep understanding of this subject is essential. Two: in certain circumstances, a vision of the future could provide helpful information. Such circumstances occur occasionally in almost every wizard or witch's life."

"Other than this, I would recommend using divination to a bare minimum. Let's begin." Professor Lovegood picked up a basket off her desk and walked to the nearest table. She took a crystal ball on a stand out of the basket and set it on the table, then walked around the room, distributing crystal balls to the rest of the tables.

"The art of crystal ball gazing is rather undefined, and can be mastered only by practice - it cannot be taught. Everyone, take turns at your tables gazing into the ball for a minimum of two minutes. I have provided parchment; you can all write down what you see. We'll be keeping journals of our visions over this semester. You may begin."

Shanelle took the ball, completely unsure of what to do. Glancing around self consciously, she peered into the crystal. Immediately, the smoke-like mist twisted to form a face that she didn't recognize. It opened its lips and mouthed some words that she couldn't make out, then disappeared back into the mist. Thoroughly creeped out, she handed the ball to Haley.

Haley had practiced divination at Beauxbatons, and had never seen anything disturbing or unusual. So, unperturbed, she leaned forward and gazed into the ball. For a moment, the mist just swirled shapelessly. Then it swirled into the shape of a silhouette. It was a young woman, with long hair that flapped out behind her, like it was windy. The silhouette held up something in her hand - it looked like a little bottle. Then, the mist changed to show the silhouette of a man lying on the ground, apparently dead. The female silhouette leaned in over the man, then turned her face toward Haley. The woman's features gradually faded into focus, going from the outline of a silhouette, to a full face.

Haley gasped involuntarily. The face was her sister Jacqueline's.

"What do you see?" Professor Lovegood was leaning in behind Haley.

"I-" Haley didn't know what to say. Her sister Jac was dead. She had been for months - or so Haley told herself. The body had never been found. There was no proof. Jacqueline Gerald was still officially classified as 'Missing'. There was no way she was going to tell Professor Lovegood all that.

"I saw a picture of you," she blurted out. "In a forest... and you were, um, dying. Well, already dead. It looked like someone stabbed you."

"Oh," the Professor stood up, "Well, that _is_ unfortunate." She gazed at Haley for a moment, with such intensity that it felt like she was reading Haley's soul. Haley felt certain that the Professor didn't believe a word of her lie.

Lovegood turned to address the entire class.

"As I said before, these visions are extremely unreliable until mastered, and even then, they show only a possibility for the future. It could show an entirely unlikely possibility, and even if it shows a likely one, the future can always be changed."

* * *

_Okay, so we would LOVE if any of you (besides the lovely MorbidlyArtistic) would leave us a review, telling us what you liked, and what you didn't, where you think the story is going, etc etc. Please. We would adore you. Thanx!_


	4. Quidditch

_Well, here's the next chapter. Hopefully this story picks up some more viewers soon. :/ It's a little discouraging, but we'll keep posting! Please please please give this a chance and let us know what you think! We can't change anything if we don't know what!_

* * *

Shanelle flew through the air, her hands clenched onto the broomstick. Sweat was pouring off her brow; not from exertion, but from fright. She was chasing the Golden Snitch. Everything was blurry, and Shanelle could barely breathe. She unclenched one hand to try and reach for the Snitch, but it was too far. She stretched her fingers a little farther; it was almost in her hand. She concentrated with all her might. If she caught it, she would become the team Seeker. She had to get it.

Shanelle launched herself towards it. And missed. She fell towards the ground, faster and faster and faster.

With a jolt and a scream, Shanelle woke up. She was bathed in sweat, and her hands were clasping her sheets.

"What's going on?"

"Did someone scream?"

The other girls in the room were awake, and when they saw her sitting up, wide eyed and pale, they laughed.

"Awww, did someone have a bad dream?"

"You're safe now, sweet! You're in a _bed_. At a _school_. It's o_kay_." They all thought this was hilarious.

Shanelle pulled the sheets off her shaking body, and left the room. The girls were still giggling and Shanelle just wasn't in the mood. She walked down the stairs, pulling her hair off her damp face. When she reached the common room she realized that she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. Scorpius sat on a couch, his wand aglow. He was drawing.

"Hey Scorp." Scorpius jumped and looked at her with an excuse on his lips, till he saw who she was.

"Nel? What are you doing up? You should be sleeping! Tryouts are tomorrow." Shanelle rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, like I don't know that. Why do you think I'm up?" Scorpius patted the couch cushion next to him. She slowly sat down.

"Bad dream?" Shanelle hated admitting weakness, but she nodded. Scorpius reminded her so much of Jay.

"It's not that I'm scared of heights, but of falling. Every time I'm on a broom, I have a mix of feelings. I can't decide if I love or hate it. I guess my hate side comes out at night. And every dream changes what I try out for. It's like it's telling me I'll fall in whatever position I'm in. I want to be Keeper. But it doesn't help to have a bunch of mocking girls at my side whenever I wake up." Scorpius sighed, and pulled her in for a hug. Shanelle was stiff for a moment, before she relaxed.

"Girl, I've seen you fly. You're amazing for someone who's only been on a broom a couple times. If you can just conquer this fear, you'll be unstoppable." He pulled away to look her in the eye. "Tomorrow, when you're doing everything you can to keep that ball out of the goals, think of someone. Someone you really care about. Your love will overpower your fear. It always does. Focus on them. You'll do great."

Shanelle smiled at him. She was so glad he'd befriended her. "Thanks Scorp." He smiled back at her.

"No prob. Now get back in bed, you've got a long day tomorrow. And I have to finish my art." Shanelle looked down at his book.

"What are you drawing?"

Scorpius smiled sheepishly.

"A person. I do it here, so my roomies aren't tempted to, well, tease." He shut the artpad. "I'll finish tomorrow. Come on. Bed." He pulled her up and walked her to the stairs. He gave her one more hug and poked her nose. "Sleep." Shanelle smiled and went back to bed.

* * *

"Alright! Everyone who's here for the position of Keeper, please step forward. We lost our 7th year Keeper, so we are looking for a replacement."

Professor Oliver Wood stood inspecting the five Slytherin students in front of him. Shanelle was among them. There were three 5th years, and two 4th years. Wood explained how the tryouts would work, and he said the 5th years would go first. They all seemed at ease while flying and caught the ball with no effort. Shanelle grew nervous. She saw Scorpius and the rest of the team in the stands, watching. Shanelle willed herself to stop shaking. It was embarrassing!

"Shanelle Williams." Wood called her forward. He looked to be in his late forties,and Shanelle could tell he had once been very good looking. She hardly noticed, though. She was having enough trouble concentrating on not losing her lunch.

He gave her a broom, and climbed onto his. He had a quaffle in one hand.

Shanelle slowly sat on her broom and rose. She slowly flew to the goals. She slowly turned to face the professor.

"Alright, I'm going to throw the ball at you a few it." He threw the ball. Luckily it came right at her, so she was able to catch it with one hand. Even so, she wobbled.

"Good," Wood said in an encouraging voice. He threw it again. She caught it with her other hand.

The third time Wood threw the ball, it went straight over her head and into the goal. She couldn't raise her arms. They wouldn't move. Wood sighed.

"You could've gotten that one. You have to reach for it. Try another." She heard laughing from the stands and she looked over at the team. Most were snickering, but all she saw was Scorpius, giving her an air hug. She smiled. She could do this. She stretched her fingers as Wood got ready to throw. The ball left his hand.

Too late Shanelle heard Wood say, "Oh, my bad! Don't bother." She had launched for that ball. She heard Scorpius's cheers, and the team's gasps. The ball was so far up, but with the tips of her fingers, she hit the ball down. She thudded back onto her broom, losing her balance, ending up upside-down. She caught the ball as it fell.

There was a long silence as Shanelle hung there, upside-down, ball in hands. Then it was all cheering. The last student smiled ruefully and said, "Yeah, I'm just gonna leave now." Shanelle flew to the ground with a smile on her face. She was part of the team. Wood said so as soon as she was on firm ground. Scorpius was hugging her before she had a chance to even breathe a sigh of relief.

"You were bloody brilliant!" He gave her another squeeze and let her go. "There's gonna be some major partying tonight! It's a pleasure to meet you, Shanelle Williams, Keeper of the Slytherin Quidditch Team! Yeah!"

* * *

Haley sat between Ada and Monet at breakfast on Saturday, across the table from Deavon and Selene. Joshua was telling a story about the first time he'd tried to ride a broom, but Haley had him tuned out. She looked around the Hall, eating a piece of bacon, but her gaze always wandered back to Deavon's face.

"I hope Hufflepuff beats Slytherin this weekend," said another boy, Albert, when Josh had finished.

"I don't know, I hear the new Slytherin team is pretty fierce," Josh replied.

"We're playing them next weekend," said Brenna, Selene's best friend. She was a Ravenclaw chaser. "You know, we ought to schedule an extra practice today."

"I can't," Deavon shook his head, "I'm going to Hogsmeade with the boys right after breakfast."

"Ugh," Selene curled her lip, "You did that last weekend, Deavon. Besides, you said you were going to take me on a date today."

Deavon wrinkled his forehead. "I thought that was tomorrow."

Selene shrugged, "I have too much homework Sunday. It'll have to be today,"

Josh spoke up. "The Witch's Hollow is only open today, Selene. You know it's Deavon's favorite."

"Yeah, come on," Albert added, "We've got to go now, or we'll be late."

Selene pouted at her boyfriend. "Well, if you really want-"

"It's fine," Deavon cut her off. He sighed, "You guys go without me."

Josh and Albert glanced at each other. "Alright..."

"See you tonight then, Deavon." They left.

Haley got up, disgusted, and followed Monet back toward the common room. Why did Deavon always bend to whatever Selene wanted, no matter how annoying it was to him? She was always controlling him, pushing him to be different, to put her before anything else in his life. They were only dating; why should Deavon make Selene's happiness his sole object? It was ridiculous, and unfair for Selene to act that way.

Still, Haley admired Deavon for always treating her the best way he possibly could, and never disrespecting her, even when she deserved it. He was so nice, so _good,_ and she was so undeserving of him.

* * *

"Shanelle!"

Shanelle turned to see Haley walking towards her. She had a purple flower in her dark hair, and she was carrying a stack of books; it was after breakfast, and the students were making their ways to their first classes.

"Shanelle!"

"Hey."

Haley grinned. She had a pretty smile. "You ready?"

Shanelle nodded, and they started on their way.

"So how are you liking classes so far?"

Shanelle shrugged. "Herbology is good, I despise Potions, and I'm not very good at Care of Magical Creatures. I really like Charms - Defense Against the Dark Arts is frustrating since we're doing boring spells I already know, but Transfiguration is fun. Oh and Professor Wood is pretty cool." Haley laughed, and Shanelle couldn't help thinking that is sounded French.

"I really like Potions, and Transfiguration. I find Defense against the Dark Arts very exciting, but I find Care of Magical Creatures fun. Charms I'm okay at, but I'm so lost in Herbology." Shanelle smiled thinking of Haley looking lost in Herbology.

"I'm sure you're fine in it. Who's your favorite teacher?"

"I think Professor Lovegood. She's hip and cool, and fun. And she's not strict at all! What about you?" Shanelle thought for a moment. They had almost reached the Charms classroom.

"My favorite's Professor Flitwick. He likes me and he's really funny." Haley nodded, agreeing that he was quite amusing, right as they reached the door.

"Ms. Williams, would you close that door for me?" Shanelle nodded and shut it. She caught up with Haley and they sat with Deavon near the back. He whispered a "hey", and they settled into their seats.

"Alright class, today we will be finishing up our "Accio" practicing. If you're good, I'll teach you a new spell when we're done. Now, I want you to pair up for this review exercise." As everyone chose partners Flitwick passed each two an apple. He went back to the front of the room.

"Now, I want one of you to hold the apple, and the other to say 'Accio apple.' It should come right to you. Than switch. I call it 'Accio Catch'. Keep playing till I say stop."

Shanelle turned to Haley who had the apple. "Accio Apple," she said in a mean voice. It sailed right over to her. She had realized in the that it only worked when she said the spell with a biting edge.

"Good job," Flitwick complemented.

Shanelle smiled smugly at the group of her roomies across the room. They stuck out their tongues.

"Accio Apple!" The apple didn't move in Shanelle's hand. Haley frowned. She tried again. "Accio Apple!"

"Miss Gerald, sound more commanding. I shouldn't be hearing exclamation points at the end of the spell."

Haley tried for a third time. "Accio Apple." She caught it a moment later.

"Nice!" Shanelle gave Haley a thumbs up. Haley smiled sheepishly, but after that it was easy. After that they practiced "throwing" the apple back and forth. Neither had trouble with that either.

After Professor Flitwick had made sure everyone had that down, he took all the apples back.

"Alright, does anyone have a certain spell they would like to learn?" The whole class raised their hands. Flitwick chose one and the student said, "How to turn water into Pumpkin Juice!" There were some cheers throughout the class and Flitwick smiled.

"Alright."

Shanelle rolled her eyes slightly. "_Wow_..."

Haley shrugged. "I like Pumpkin Juice."

* * *

"See you later, Shanelle!" Haley waved as theyseparated for their different classes.

"Bye, Haley." Shanelle waved back. Next was Herbology. She walked swiftly, and reached the classroom a few minutes early.

"Shanelle, sit with us!"

Shanelle looked to see Dominic waving at her. Riley was sitting next to him. She made her way over to them.

"Hey, how's your morning been?"

Shanelle was tempted to laugh at Dom's good mood. Riley did. Then he mimicked him.

"Dude, don't talk. You're embarrassing."

"Hey Riley," Shanelle said. She paused for a moment before asking, "Did you ever apologize to Scorpius?" Riley looked offended.

"Of course I did. I realized we went too far. I just don't go broadcasting it to the world, that's all." He looked pointedly at Dominic. Dom blushed.

Shanelle smiled. "Thanks Riley."

He grinned. "Don't count on it."

"Good morning, class." Headmaster Longbottom had walked in. He smiled at his students.

"Today's topic is a plant that has the tendency to make people sneeze, whilst being very useful. The juice from its leaves strengthens the brooms you ride on. Does anyone know what it's called?" No one raised their hand. He smiled again.

"We'll come back to that in just a moment. First, did everyone finish their report from yesterday? Please come turn them in." Shanelle collected the Weasley's and took theirs and hers to the Headmaster.

"Thank you," he said, and she turned back to her seat.

"Class, this plant is called the Clandum. The pollen is what makes you sneeze. Now today, we are going to learn how to extract the juice from the leaves. Alright?"

The Weasley's groaned in their seats next to Shanelle. She smiled sweetly at them.

"This'll be fun," she said brightly. They glared at her, and Shanelle was amazed at how alike they really looked.

"Shh…" Riley said, and she stifled a laugh.

"Bye guys!" Shanelle waved to Dom and Riley and left for Transfiguration. There was another reason that she didn't care for Transfiguration, that she hadn't told Haley. The class was with Hufflepuff, and she didn't have any friends there yet. It wasn't that she was so terribly opposed to friends. It was just hard for her to actually go up to anyone and introduce herself. She told herself it was a pride thing, not just that she was actually shy. So she was surprised when a black haired girl waved her over to the seat next to her.

"I'm Roxanne. You're Shanelle, right?" Shanelle nodded, wondering how this girl knew her name. But the girl couldn't say anymore, as Professor Laura Bakerson stepped into the room.

"Good morning, class. Please open your books to page 47." In unison, the class opened their books. On page 47, there was a picture of a pumpkin turning into a pillow. Shanelle raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?" she muttered in disbelief.

"Now class, if you do this correctly, the pumpkin will turn into a perfect pillow. If not, well," the professor paused. "I'll let you find out on your own. Now, the spell we'll be using is 'Pumlow'. Say it with me. 'Pumlow'." The students obeyed.

"Good. Let's begin." She snapped her fingers and a small pumpkin appeared on every student's desk. Shanelle immediately pointed her wand at the pumpkin and said the spell. She and Roxanne watched as it slowly changed shape until it was a nice, small rectangle. Roxanne giggled next to her and pointed. Shanelle's pillow was orange with indents, just like a pumpkin, but soft and cushiony.

"Let's see _you_ do it then."

Roxanne said the spell, and her pumpkin changed shape, and became a perfect white pillow. "Ha! Mine is white, and beautiful, and—" there was a thunk, as Roxanne laid her head down on the pillow.

"And hard as a pumpkin," Shanelle finished for her. Roxanne scowled playfully rubbing her head. Shanelle glanced up at Professor Bakerson, and she could tell that she was suppressing a smile. She looked around the room to find the most of the others were having the same difficulties that she and Roxanne were.

"Psst!"

Shanelle looked back at Roxanne, who gestured for her to look under her desk. Shanelle did. Roxanne was holding a note. Shanelle quickly checked to see if the professor was looking her way, and grabbed the note. She held it under her desk, and took a peek at it. It had the name 'Scorpius' scrawled on it. She looked up at Roxanne.

"Will you give it to him?" she asked. Shanelle quickly nodded and tucked it away in a notebook. For the rest of the class, Roxanne didn't say anything more to her. Shanelle was left alone to her thoughts. So, Roxanne had a crush on Scorpius? Okay… So that was the only reason Roxanne had wanted Shanelle to sit by her. She'd been used.

By the time Transfiguration ended, Shanelle was in a foul mood. She'd thought for a moment there, the girl had wanted to be her friend. She met up with Haley and Deavon on the way to Defense against the Dark Arts, trying hard not to scowl. It wasn't like she was going to tell them she had hurt feelings.

"Hey," Haley waved, and Deavon smiled. She fell in step with them as they all headed into class.

* * *

Defense against the Dark Arts was not one of Shanelle's favorite classes. They never did anything fun. It was always boring. Well, boring to her. Haley said she enjoyed it. So did Deavon. Actually, so did basically the whole school. But that was probably because they hadn't lived in a gang on the streets for practically their whole life. She couldn't remember a time when she didn't have a wand. Her brother had always been there, teaching her a trick if she'd done something to be proud of. Than Jay showed up, apparently from this place, a 6th or 7th year. She'd never asked. So, while Shanelle had learned many advanced fighting spells from Jay, the class she was in studied Dark Creatures. Apparently the 4th year class she was in had gotten behind last year, so they were finishing up the third year curriculum. It was the most boring bloody thing ever. What did she care about Banshees, or Grindylows, or Red Caps? She wanted to learn how to be a better fighter!

Professor Emily Kenderson taught the class. She had an assistant who looked like he was just barely out of school, and Kenderson herself looked only a few years older than he did. He was very good looking, though not really Shanelle's taste. His name was Adam Roe. A lot of the girls talked about him - not Haley or Shanelle, but a lot of them.

Today in class they were studying Hinkypunks. Shanelle only liked them because they had the word 'punk' in their name. But other than that, they were boring. Adam was teaching today, so Shanelle and Haley got to watch all the girls (and some of the boys) drool over him and raise their hands for every question.

"So class, what does the Hinkypunk do?" Adam pointed at one of the many hands. The girl stood and said, "They lure people into bogs!" Adam smiled and said that, yes, that was true.

"Does anyone know how they do that?"

Haley leaned over and whispered to Shanelle, "Ugh, I totally know the answer, but there is no way I'm raising my hand." Shanelle stifled a snicker as some boy said, "They carry a light with them."

After class, Shanelle went to the library with her Ravenclaw friends. Most of the class went to get books about the Hinkypunks to write amazing reports for Adam. Shanelle, Haley and Deavon went to work on Potions. Shanelle was completely lost in the subject, no matter how much Haley helped.

After an hour or so, Shanelle had to leave Haley and Deavon to go to quidditch practice. On the way she ran into Dom and Riley and she talked with them for a few minutes before hurrying on to practice. Scorpius, and the whole rest of the team was waiting for her.

"You're late."

Shanelle frowned. "I am not! Practice doesn't start for 15 minutes!"

Jerrod, who'd made it on the team as one of the beaters, frowned back at her. "No it's not. Practice started 15 minutes ago."

Shanelle's frown deepened as she glared at Jerrod. "The schedule that I got, said that practice was at 4:15. I got here at 4, so I'd have time to get my gear ready."

Some of the team sighed as she went to put her guards on. Scorpius came over to her.

"I don't know how you got that paper, but you better make the mistake up today in practice. The Slytherin team isn't all that accepting, and they really miss our old Keeper."

Shanelle glared at him. "Thanks Scorp. That made me feel loads better."

Scorpius smirked. "Anything for you, Nellie Dear."

Shanelle didn't speak to him for the rest of practice.

* * *

After dinner that night, Shanelle caught up with Scorpius, searching for the note in her bag.

"Scorp, wait up!" Scorpius turned around, and seeing who it was, he grinned. He tapped his foot, faking impatience. Shanelle reached his side and handed him the note.

"Roxanne from Transfiguration gave this to me for you. A new fangirl, eh?" Shanelle tried to make light of it, not showing how annoyed she was at being used as a note passer, just in case he liked her. Scorpius laughed hard.

"Um, no - this isn't from Roxanne." He hadn't even opened it.

Shanelle's ringed eyebrow rose. "How do you know?"

Scorpius just smiled mysteriously. "Tell Roxie thanks. And thank you," he added.

Shanelle huffed in offense at this. Why wasn't he telling her who'd written the note?

"Fine, next time I won't bring you the note!" She turned to storm off. Scorpius caught her arm.

"Nel, don't be like that. It's just - I promised the person I wouldn't tell anyone. I'll ask them if I can tell you, though, alright? Please don't be mad." Scorpius looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Shanelle sighed.

"Fine; but really, next time, get a different mail collector, please?"

Scorpius nodded. "Alright."

Shanelle smiled in spite of herself. "Let's go, Scorp. I've got homework to do."

Scorpius laughed, and they walked back to the Slytherin common room together, happy again.

* * *

_Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase tell us what you think! Hearts to you all!_


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